With the tremendous increase in popularity of poker-type games, it is not surprising that there are a vast number of patents and patent applications directed to various aspects or versions of the game. There are many patents and patent applications in the United States and Canada that involve playing poker in some way. The following is a brief review of some of them.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,101 discloses a style of poker that incorporates elements of Texas Hold'Em and 5 card draw poker. Each player is dealt 5 cards, and the players may discard any or all or none of the cards. Six community cards are dealt face down (until all players have discarded if they want to) in a triangle pattern with 3 in one row, 2 in another, and 1 in another. Players use specific ones of these community cards to complete their hand if they discarded any of their initial cards. If they discarded one, they use the point in the triangle (the one card row); if they discarded two they use the middle row of the triangle that has two cards; if they discarded three they use the top row of three cards; if they discarded 4, they use the 3 card row and the one card row; if they discarded all, they use the top two rows (3 and 2 card rows). Players win based on a prize board ranking of hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,430 describes a “California Express Hold'em” game that is a modified Texas Hold'Em game where each player is dealt 3 personal cards and must discard one of them, thus keeping 2 cards. Then 5 community cards are revealed, and the players make the best possible 5-card hand out of the 7 cards they have. The objective of this game is to increase speed and decrease complexity, particularly by eliminating successive rounds of betting. The game allows the players to place wagers before they see their personal cards, but there is no further betting. This game is principally directed to casino play where a relatively small group of players play against each other.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,118, the game involves each player getting 2 random cards and trying to build a 5-card poker hand with their 2 cards and only 3 community cards. Additionally, in this game, after the players are shown 2 of the 3 community cards, they can double their initial bet if they choose. Players that achieve a specific 5-card hand that ranks on the prize board win the associated prize.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,402 is for “Bad Beat Stud”, and is based on 7-card stud poker. Players start by paying an ante amount. Players and the dealer then receive 5 personal cards face down. After seeing their starting cards, the players must make an additional wager to continue playing. Two community cards are then dealt, and the players must make a further (third) wager to remain in the game. Players who have made the required three wagers win if they have a minimum qualifying hand (i.e. a pair) and their hand beats that of the dealer. There is also an option for a player to make an additional ‘side bet’ to be eligible for a special payout. This side bet may involve a ‘bad beat’ component where the player has a strong hand, but loses to the dealer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,311 is for a video poker game that combines elements of Texas Hold'Em and 5 Card Draw Poker where the player (who plays on his own) can play up to five hands at once. Two community cards are dealt face up. The player gets 2 random cards which they can use with up to 5 sets of 3 unknown cards to make a poker hand. After seeing the 2 community cards, the player has the option to replace one or both of them. At this stage, the player can then double their wager or keep it the same. Once this is completed, the sets of 3 unknown cards are revealed and the player gets a payout if they achieve a 5-card hand that ranks on the prize board. Thus, in this game, it is possible for the player to increase the wager after seeing two cards, payouts are based on a pay table, cards can be discarded and replaced, and it is directed to a video format for single players only.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,973 is a patent for a draw-poker based game where the player has the option to discard and replace one or more cards from the starting hand. The game is designed for live casino poker, but it has one video element that displays a random card from a 2nd deck of cards, which is used to determine the rank and value of wild cards. This game is also transferable to pure video draw-poker. The payouts are based on a prize board with various hands assigned specific payouts.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,072 discloses a poker card game where each player antes and receives 4 cards face down. The dealer also gets 4 cards face down. Players can fold, or must match the amount of all the antes from players and dealer to stay in. Players staying in then share 3 community cards to use to complete their 5-card poker hand, with the highest hand at the table winning the pot.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,747 is for a variation on Texas Hold'em but played against a dealer instead of other players. A unique feature in this game is that one of the dealer's cards is set in advance, and displayed to all players ahead of time. Players start by providing an ante bet, and receive a 2-card hand. Players can then fold or continue to play. The game then plays like traditional Texas Hold'em, with three community cards being displayed, then a fourth, and then a fifth, with optional chances to increase their wagers, remain the same, or fold. A further option in this game is to place a side bet at the beginning to compete against a prize board instead of the dealer. In another embodiment, neither of the dealer cards is displayed, while betting and overall play remains the same as in the preferred embodiment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,983 discloses a poker game very similar to traditional Texas Hold'em but with minor differences. Instead of players getting two personal, hidden cards and using up to 5 shared community cards to make the best 5 card poker hand, the players get three hidden cards and use up to 4 shared community cards. Multiple rounds of betting occur as the community cards are revealed (as in Texas Hold'em).
US Patent Published Application No. 2003/0064767 A1 is principally directed to eliminating cheating in poker games. A computer replaces the dealer, and there is no deck of cards. The community cards are displayed on a video screen and the players' cards are printed on a printer at the player's station. The game proceeds as an ordinary poker game. The players compete directly against each other and have the ability to make decisions and communicate them to the central computer during the game.
US Patent Published Application No. 2005/0107148 A1 describes a variant of Texas Hold'em Poker that is designed to reduce the house advantage, with the hope of attracting more players to the table. The primary aspect of the game involves the players making four wagers. The first three “competition wagers” are placed against the other players, and resolved when different cards are dealt. There is no house advantage in this aspect. The fourth “proposition wager” is determined against a fixed payout scale. The house has an advantage on the proposition wagers. In a second embodiment, players make a single competition and single proposition wager. The former is against the other players; the latter against the house. The payout for the competition wager is 1:1.
Canadian Patent No. 2,053,812 discloses a typical video poker game, with the added feature that the player can increase their wager after seeing their starting hand, even though they may already be a winner. The player starts by placing a wager, and then sees their starting hand. At this point, the starting hand is an incomplete hand as there is at least one more card to come to complete the hand (the incomplete starting hand might already have a pair of matching cards or better and thus, already a winning hand). At this point the player can make another wager (or not) before receiving the rest of their cards. Winners are paid out according to a hand-ranking table.
Canadian Patent Application 2,227,649 is for a modified draw poker game (as opposed to stud Texas Hold'em) where a player may discard cards and attempt to improve his hand. The player is dealt 5 cards and after dealing, the player has the option to fold or place a second bet. Players may then discard cards and draw replacements. Players compete against a player bank (preferably the dealer) for both high and low value hands. Also disclosed is a progressive jackpot where players pay an optional bet before receiving any cards for a chance at winning the progressive jackpot, which is paid out if a player achieves a specific predetermined hand or better. As well, there is disclosed a high-low poker game where each player must declare his hand as high, low, or high-low.
Canadian Patent Application 2,415,607 describes an improvement to known casino games such as Blackjack and Baccarat. An objective is to inject the excitement and player interaction seen in Poker into these kinds of games. This published application contemplates two mandatory wagers: a “first wager” and a “pot wager”. Using Blackjack as the example, the player's first wager applies to an ordinary Blackjack game. The second wager is put into a pot. The players compete against the house for the first wager according to the usual rules of Blackjack. The players then compete against each other for the pot—the player who has the best hand takes the pot. In the event of a tie, the pot can be shared among the winners or carried over to the next hand. “Bad Beat” jackpots are also contemplated, but are paid on certain combinations of cards, and are not contingent on cards held by other players or the dealer.
Canadian Patent Application No. 2,427,076 is for a gaming station for playing a house banked card game between a plurality of players and the house, the game having multiple win possibilities from multiple bet opportunities. The primary aspect of the game has players competing against other live players for the best poker hand. The secondary aspect of this game allows players to win if the hand they achieve is of a predetermined rank, which is automatically paid according to an associated payout table ranking for that hand. Also, this game has a ‘bad beat’ feature which pays a losing player that achieves a predetermined high-ranking hand.
There remains a need to provide a poker-type game that can be played amongst a large group of players located at remote locations.
The disclosures of all patents/applications referenced herein are incorporated herein by reference.